


More than this - Interlude 2

by xMidnightsLullaby



Series: More than.... [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Christmas, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Pure, Snowflake - Freeform, Winter, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 06:24:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16848799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xMidnightsLullaby/pseuds/xMidnightsLullaby
Summary: This is another Interlude from the YoI Children AU.Austin rememberes the first time his boyfriend had called him by his pet name "Snowflake" more than two years ago, before they had started dating. It was at the same time when the half-Thai, half-Korean saw snow for the first time in his life.





	More than this - Interlude 2

„Come in, come in. You look like you’ve been freezing to death,” Mika said and let Austin enter the warm apartment. He kissed him softly, but drew back instantly. “Oh dear, your lips feel like ice-cubes. How long have been out there?“ – “About an hour or so? I really love Saint Petersburg, especially in winter, but I guess I’ll never accustom to the temperature,” the half-Thai shivered from the cold. After practise, he had planned to meet up with Mika to watch a few episodes of “Miss Fisher”, another series they had started watching after Valentina had forced them to take a look at it.  
Usually, the bus from the rink to the Ice Prince’s home only took about 15 minutes, but due to the blizzard that had befallen the city, the bus had been late 30 minutes and had stopped working three stations before Austin needed to get off. So after waiting in the cold for half an hour, he additionally had to walk for another 30 minutes to get to his boyfriend. After 10 minutes, he hadn’t felt his feet anymore and his nose felt like a chunk of ice, although he had tried to shelter his face behind the big blue scarf Mika had once given him. Now, after he had taken off his thick cloak, the warmth emitted by the fireplace tried to thaw his frozen body, but it felt more like thousand small needles were trying to revive his stone-cold skin and muscles. 

“Oh my god, Austin. You tremble like a leaf. You really must be chilled to the bones,” Mika said looking at him quite concerned. “I thought so after you texted me that you’d be here later. I guess that you should take a shower to warm up a little. I already hang some clothes up the heater, so they will be warm when you put them on. In the meantime, I’ll prepare some hot chocolate and a few heating pads.” The Ice Prince shoved him towards the bathroom, but before closing the door behind Austin, he wrapped his arms around the half-Korean’s shoulders and placed a soft his on his cheek. “I’m happy you’re here, Snowflake,” he whispered in his ear and made his way to the kitchen. The skin where Mika had kissed him suddenly felt warm and a well-known heat filled Austin’s body. There was nothing better in the world than the Ice Prince’s touches and kisses. Hastily, he put off his clothes to step under the shower. The faster he got a little warmer, the faster he could cuddle up to Mika under his blanket. When the warm water pattered onto his shoulders, down his arms and over the rest of his body, the half-Thai closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of his skin and muscles thawing. But not only his body was warming up, also his thoughts were drifting off to a memory, he cherished a lot. It was already more than two years ago, but it was so etched into his mind, he still felt his body overwhelmed by the emotions he had experienced back then – at that time that Mika had called him “Snowflake” for the first time.

______

It had been cold, when Austin had arrived in Saint Petersburg, but the air was dry and the sky over the city was coloured in light blue. It was mid-November and even though the skating season had already started, his parents and his coach allowed him to fly to Russia for a few days. He had begged them to let him visit Mika for months, but every time they would have agreed with him to go there, it hadn’t fitted his friend’s travelling / practise plans. These four short days were the first in a very long time that both of them were free apart from practise, so the half-Thai had taken the chance to finally visit Mika again. It was already a year ago that they had seen each other aside from competitions and skating and Austin couldn’t wait to meet his friend. Of course, they had talked on the phone or had tried to spent their free time together whenever they had been competing in the same city, but the half-Thai looked forward to talking the nights through, to walking through the city together and to fall asleep next to his friends without worrying about the competition on the next day. 

Aside from seeing Mika again, the half-Thai also was happy to be in Saint Petersburg again. He had fallen in love with the city the first time he had been there. In secret, he had decided that he wanted to move there a long time ago. He just hadn’t found the right time and place to tell his parents yet, but just the thought of living close to Mika was motivating enough to take on a hard time convincing his fathers. He had already started to lean Russian. He wasn’t good at it, but at least he could ask for the restrooms and for a glass of water so far. He hadn’t told the Ice Prince about his plans yet, either. He wanted to wait until he had talked with his fathers. If they didn’t allow him to move to Russia, he wouldn’t want to crash his hopes. 

Even though it was November, the streets were grey as ever and the green areas were now brown. Austin sighed when he stepped outside the airport. He had hoped that there would be snow when he arrived. Never before he had seen real snow. In Seoul where he grew up, the thick slightly white drops wouldn’t really count as snow and most of the real cold months, they had spent in Thailand, because his dad wasn’t good with cold temperatures or his fathers had been so busy, they hadn’t have time to visit Mika and his family. When he grew older, allowed to travel around the world, he had thought that he would finally be able to see and touch snow, but the goddesses of weather hadn’t wanted to grant him this wish. Every time he had been in country well know for their beautiful winter landscape, they had experienced the warmest winter in a long time. Even when he had been in Austria last year, the temperature had been way above 0. 

Austin walked towards to taxi area. The Ice Prince had promised to pick him up, but of course, he was late as usual. Letting out a loud sigh, the half-Korean asked himself if there had been one situation that his friend had been on time. Although Austin was quite used to this, he sat down on his huge suitcase, trying not to let his anticipation get pulled down by this. However, his chastened mood was lifted instantly, when suddenly a taxi stopped a few meters in front of him and Mika jumped out of the car, running towards him.

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Austin as soon as he reached him and pulled him into a tight hug. The half-Thai closed his eyes and picked up the Ice Prince’s scent that always filled his body with a comfy, honey-like feeling that spread through his veins like liquid gold. Being held tightly by the Ice Prince always felt like coming home after a long journey. “Hey,” Mika whispered, his nose buried in Austin’s hair. “Hey.” As always, they were caught up in their own world and the half-Thai wouldn’t have minded to stay there a lot longer. When he was with the Ice Prince, he didn’t need anyone else. The world, however, didn’t stop turning and they were harshly brought back to present, when the taxi driver shouted, if he was supposed to wait even longer of if they wanted to stay there. 

They whole way to Mika’s home, they had talked about superficial things, because they didn’t want to bring up the deep stuff in front of a stranger who has already been looking strangely at them since they had hugged. “How’re Valentina and Peri?”, Austin asked. “Oh, they’re doing great. Valentina has been in Italy during vacation and ever since she came back, she is talking even faster.” – “Really? I never thought this was possible.” – “Yeah, it’s really hard to follow her. Peri’s super annoyed about that. But in general, he’s doing fine. He is dating a girl from his ballet class lately.” – “And?” – “What?” – “How long do think it will last this time?” Mika laughed. “Hm…she’s really cute, but not very interesting. I guess he will be bored out by her in… a month, maybe two.” Austin join into his friend’s laughter. “We’re unfair to talk about him like that, aren’t we?”, he asked the older boy. “Ah, don’t worry. I stopped feeling bad about betting on his relationships months ago.” It was true. Even though Peri was the same age as Austin, he had started ‘going out’ with girls quite early. He was pretty popular, so there was always someone he was flirting with. However, none of his so-called relationships had been serious. 

The taxi stopped in front of a giant house and they got off. Even tough Mika and his parents lived in an apartment close to the centre of the city, it was still huge. Austin loved his friend’s home. A huge fireplace in the living room heated every room and invited everyone to sit down on the sofa and sleep for a little while. The walls were covered with photos – family trips, pictures of Victor and Yuuri during their own competitive periods and many, many more. The kitchen next to the living room wasn’t that big, but it was pretty modern and there was enough space for three people to cook at the same time. Mika’s room, however, wasn’t really special, but, it was still Austin’s favourite. Every centimetre was exactly like the Ice Prince himself, down-to-earth, basic, but comfortable and a little messy. As much as he wanted to let himself fall down on the bed and recover a little from the flight, they just put in the half-Korean’s luggage in there and returned outside again. Mika had invited him to a small café that he, Peri and Valentina had just discovered in the city. Just the thought of a nice hot chocolate and a small piece of cake let Austin instantly forget about his fatigue. 

When they walked towards centre of the city, they spent their time next to each quietly. This wasn’t an usual thing at all. It even seemed like a habit they had developed. Although there were so many things to talk about, so many experiences to share, they rather spent some time in silence. For Austin, this was always a good time to let his body calm down and get used to the feelings Mika awakened in him. Seeing his best friend again after a long time, sometimes felt like an overdose of endorphins, dopamine and all the other things that made his head go all dizzy, so he was happy to have some moments do adjust his brain or else he could say something really stupid he would probably regret later. Turning his head to his side, he examined Mika a bit closer. Austin could help, but noticing once more that the Ice Prince was the most handsome person he had ever seen. His soft, black hair let his light skin look even brighter and his grey-blue eyes always reminded him of the sky after a thunderstorm. However, the light that was usually in them wasn’t burning as usual and his cheeks seemed a little hollow.  
But luckily, he looked better than the last time they had skyped a few weeks ago. His face wasn’t as white anymore and he seemed to have gained weight again. The last four months had been hard on the Ice Prince and Austin was happy to see his friend getting better. He still hated himself for not being there for Mika when he had needed him the most, because his parents hadn’t allowed him as he had a lot of exams in school at that time. All through the summer, they had managed to not being able to meet and although Austin had tried his best to help his friend via messages and calls, he didn’t forgive himself that he hadn’t been there in person. 

“Do I have something on my face?” the Ice Prince suddenly asked him with a smile on his face. Deeply blushing, because he got caught staring at Mika, Austin turned away. “I…I just thought you looked a lot better,” he mumbled. He didn’t knew if it was the right thing to talk about now, but he wanted to tell the Russian what had been on his mind. Observing Mika from the corner of his eyes, he noticed that his expression turned slightly sad for a second. “Thanks…I feel a lot better, too.” Without thinking about it, Austin took the Ice Prince’s hand and squeezed it encouragingly and smiled at him. “Soo… what kind of cake are you going to treat me?”, he asked changing the topic. “Oh, I have nothing special in mind. I will order anything you want.” – “I hope you saved up your allowance. I can’t promise that this month’s is enough.”

When Mika had enthused about this café when he had told Austin about it the first time, he had totally understated. The outside didn’t seem special, but when they stepped inside, the half-Thai felt like he had entered a fairy tale. A huge sign over the counter said “Törtchen to go” while another was placed on a wall on the other side of the room where all the tables where placed saying “Törtchen to stay”. The interior was designed to resemble a royal tea room. The chairs had soft, dark red fabric cushions, the table legs were convoluted and slightly shimmering golden under the light of the decent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The air was filled with the scent of freshly backed cookies and in the back, Austin heard the crackle of a fire place. “This is…” He was totally out of words. “Yup. I thought you’d like it,” Mika answered with a satisfied smile and led the younger boy to a small table close to one of the windows. Only a few moments later, a young girl wearing a rose coloured apron, her blonde hair done in a bun, came to their table and handed them the menus. “Hey. May I hand you our menus? This is the carte for our cakes and canapés, this is the carte for our beverages and this carte here shows all the different kinds of hot chocolate that we offer. Do you already know what you want to order?” Slightly overwhelmed, Austin took the three different coloured menus and shook his head and so did Mika. “Alright, just take your time. If you need anything, just call me.” The girl smiled, threw an extra sparkling gaze towards the Russian and left their table. Opening the menu for the hot chocolates, the half-Thai felt like he was dreaming. “They have 30 different types of hot chocolate?” – “Yup. We have already tried half of them and they are all amazing.” Only for a second, Austin dared to lift his gaze from all the delicious sounding drinks to look at Mika. “Is this heaven?”

Choosing a drink was already hard, but when Austin looked at all the cakes and pastries they offered, he was totally swamped. He was still looking confused at all the names of the cakes he had never heard of before, when the girl came back. “So? Have you already decided?” The half-Thai shook his head. How should he ever choose? While he was staring at the menu like it would give him an answer or a recommendation, the waitress turned towards Mika. “Hey, that might sound unmannered, but could it be that you’ve already been here several times?” The Ice Prince laughed. “You’re not unmannered and yes, a friend of mine loves this place, so we come here quite often.” – “Oh yes, that girl with the auburn hair. I remember her, too. To be honest, you’ve drawn my attention since you came here the first time.” – “Oh…I’m sorry about that. Val can be really..” – “No, no. It wasn’t because of her. You attracted my attention since you stepped in here a few months ago.” Peeking at the girl over his menu, Austin’s stomach tensed. The waitress was slightly blushing and she was playing with a strand of her hair that wasn’t pinned up. Although he was used to girls trying to flirt with the Ice Prince, he hated it. Maybe he was a bit jealous, he didn’t deny that, but what bothered him most were the indiscretion most girls showed. He was here with a friend, not to pick up anyone. And why did those girl always assume that he was straight or interested in dating any of them? Well, it also had it’s good sites that not many people knew that Mika was bi. If it was made public, even more people would interrupt their meetings trying to hit on the Russian. Not that Mika wanted to date anyone right now. Katharina had left him about 4 months ago and he was just slowly recovering. 

“Excuse me, but what is a ‘Sacher torte’?”, Austin asked the waitress in order to interrupt her attempt to flirt with Mika. “Oh good choice”, she said, finally stopping to ignore the half-Korean. “It’s a type of chocolate cake from my home country Austria. It’s made of light chocolate sponge cake, apricot jam covered by chocolate icing. It’s not gonna make you thin, but very, very happy.” – “Sounds good to me. I’ll take a piece of that one and a white hot chocolate with hazelnuts.” – “Alright. And for you, ehm…” – “Mika. My name’s Mika. I’ll take a dark hot chocolate with pears and regarding the cake…surprise me,” me answered with a kind smile on his face. The waitress giggled, took their menus and left the table. “You shouldn’t encourage her or she will never stop flirting with you”, Austin scolded his friend. “I’m not flirting, I’m just being nice.” – “You are here with me, you’re not supposed to be nice to other people.” The half-Thai crossed his arms in front of his chest and tried to look angry, although he couldn’t keep in his smile. Mika returned his smile and ruffled through his hair. “I promise, from now on, I will only look at you.” Little did he know, that just this small sentence made Austin’s heart skip a beat.

The cakes didn’t just sound delicious, they tasted like heaven. Not only his slice of cake was fantastic, but also Mika’s ‘banana-slice’, a cake consisting of a white fluffy dough on the bottom, a thin layer of jam under a layer of pudding-cream and banana slices with a chocolate icing on top, was absolutely delightful. Austin had to admit that this girl had a really good taste. If she would only stop throwing those gazes at Mika every time she walked by their table. The half-Thai hadn’t counted, but he was sure she came twice as often to ask if they needed anything than she did at the other tables. But as promised, the Ice Prince just smiled at her politely and sent her away again. While enjoying their cakes and drinks, they finally had time to talk more freely than in the cab. Austin told Mika everything about what he had done since they last time they had phoned, the told him about the lasted manga he read and the new anime he had started to watch. It was set in a universe where most people had super powers and being a superhero was a real occupation. Since the first episode, the half-Korean had fallen in love it, probably, because he could relate a lot to the main character. The whole time, the Russian looked at him following his every movement with his eyes. Austin loved this about Mika. No matter what the younger boy talked about, the Ice Prince always listened to him with all his attention. 

For hours they were sitting in the café talking about this and that. Of course, they let out the real things they had looked forward to talk about. These were reserved for the night, when Austin was laying on Mika’s arm, both of them cuddling under a thick blanket. When Austin looked outside for the first time after they had entered the café, he noted that it was already dark. He retrieved his phone from his pocket to check the time. “Wow it’s already half past 6,” he marvelled, “I’ll never get used to how the time flies when I’m with you.” Soon he realized what he had just said and turned bright red. No matter how hard he tried to keep it in, whenever he was with Mika, such embarrassing things kept coming out of his mouth. But the Ice Prince didn’t seem to think of it as strange. Instead, a heart-warming smile appeared on his face. “Same here! It’s such a shame since you’re here for only a few days.” For a while, they looked into each other’s eyes what made the butterflies in Austin’s stomach were going wild. 

He wished that this moment would last only a bit longer, when the waitress came back to their table. “Are you alright? Can I get you anything else?” Austin had to hide his disappointment. Why couldn’t she wait for a few more minutes? Mika seemed to have noticed his anger, because he smiled at him and his eyes were so loving that the half-Korean feared to die from a heart attack. The girl or boy, who would be in the lucky position to be with the Ice Prince in the future, really should prepare their hearts or their pleasure wouldn’t last long. 

“I guess we’d like to pay, won’t we? If we go home now, we can help my dads with dinner. I’m sure they can’t wait to pump you.” A light shadow of disappointment hushed over the waitress’s face. Austin sighed in his head. It wasn’t like the Ice Prince left for good. Valentina would drag him and Peri here until they would suffer from diabetes. “Are you paying together or split?” – “I’m paying,” Mika answered before Austin could say a word. “Then come with me to the counter please,” the blonde girl said looking a lot more pleased than a few seconds ago. While the Russian got up and followed her, Austin let his gaze wander outside. He didn’t want to see her flirting with his friend. He’d bet that she was writing her phone number on the bill. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened. So to find something else to look at, he turned his way to the huge window next to him. Directly in front of the café, a street lamp lighted the otherwise dark alley. His glance got caught by the beam of light. Was it raining? None of them had taken a umbrella with them. No, this wasn’t rain…there were tiny white flakes slowly falling downwards. When he realized what he saw, Austin jumped off the chair and ran outside: It was snowing. 

The half-Thai couldn’t believe what was happening. Totally mesmerized he stopped under the street lamp and looked up. He had hoped to see this for years, but now that the moment was finally there, he wasn’t able to realize it. This was the first time in his life that he saw real snow. Unable to turn away his gaze, he watched more and more snowflakes as they floated to earth. When they touched Austin’s skin, they didn’t feel particular cold. It was more like a snow fairy had placed a cold kiss right were the flake landed and with the blink of an eye it melted, leaving only a drop of water. He tried to observe a single snowflake from when it fell past the street lamp until it landed on the street, but too many small white dots were crossing his sight.

He hadn’t noticed at all that Mika had left the café as well until he felt a weight on his shoulders. “I wondered what you saw that made leave so fast that you even forgot your jacket.” Austin slightly blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you or anything. I just had to…” The Ice Prince laughed. “No need to apologize. I just forgot that this is the first time you see snow, isn’t it? But please, put on your jacket. I don’t want you to catch a cold.” Mika helped Austin to put on his jacket while the half-Korean was still busy watching the snow fall. “I never thought that it would be this beautiful. Sure, I’ve seen it on TV, but it’s so much more...They are so small, but if you look at them closer you can see how amazing they are. I’ve read that not two of them look the same. That’s really a miracle.” From behind, the Ice Prince wrapped his arms around Austin’s shoulders and pulled him against his chest. “When I watch you being so fascinated, I realize how indifferent I have been about snow the last few years. It’s such a normal thing here, I forgot how beautiful this actually is.” – “I really envie you. You get to see this so often. I wish I could take that home with me. Just one would be enough. My own snowflake. Wouldn’t that be cool?” For a while, Mika didn’t respond anything, but then he whispered something close to the younger boy’s ear. “I already have one. Ты моя снежинка.“ Austin didn’t understand what he meant, but he was too captivated by the snow to ask.  
Austin had no idea who long he just watched the snowflakes when Mika softly took his hand. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I guess we should be go home. It’s getting really cold and you don’t even have a scarf.” Just now, the half-Thai noticed that he was slightly freezing, so even though he wanted to stand there longer, he let the Ice Prince lead him home.

The rest of the evening was funny as always when he visited Saint Petersburg. Victor and Yuuri were like family to him and so he was more than happy to see them again, too. While helping the Japanese in the kitchen, Mika’s fathers took their chance to ask him about anything – how school was like, how his first competitions went, how his parents were and so on. During dinner, Viktor told them by the way that a good friend of him was looking for a new tenant. “I really can’t believe why he doesn’t find anyone. Yes, the apartment is not that big and it’s about an hour away from the centre, but it’s really cute. Totally fine for one person. I guess, he’s just too picky about his tenants…But don’t you dare, Mika, thinking about moving out! You will never be allowed to leave your dads.” Laughing at Mika and Viktor arguing about him living with his parents forever, Austin took a mental note to ask his friend’s father about further details on this apartment later. 

A lot later that night, they crawled into Mika’s bed. Like usual, the Ice Prince stretched out his left arm, so Austin could rest his head on it. “So…,” the half-Korean tried to address the topic that was hovering over them the whole day, “how are you?” For a while, the Russian didn’t say anything. The younger boy turned his head to the side so he could watch his friend. He knew that Mika didn’t answer, not because he tried to ignore the question, but because he was really thinking about it. He closed his eyes and sighed before he answered. “I guess, I’m okay.” He took another long pause starring at the ceiling until he continued. “I kind of understand her, but… I just wished it wouldn’t hurt so much. Don’t get me wrong, it’s already a lot better. At least, I’m not waking up every day thinking about her anymore.” Austin noted a slight tremble in Mika’s voice. He knew that it didn’t help much, but he wrapped his arm around the Ice Prince’s neck and hugged him tightly. “I can’t imagine how you feel, but I’m happy that you are finally getting better.” Mika returned the hug pulling Austin even tighter to his chest. “I really wish for you to never experience that… You know, right now, I’m just happy that you are finally here again. It feels like everything isn’t’ that bad when you are with me” – “I’m also happy I’m finally here. And I’ll be there for you forever, Mika. Even if I’m not here. No matter what happens, I’ll never leave you.” 

For a while, they didn’t move a millimetre. Austin loved Mika’s hugs and he was happy that he could finally do something to help his friend. However, when his back started to hurt from the twisted position, he laid back down on the Russian’s arm. They stayed silent for a few moments until the Ice Prince began so speak again, his voice somehow husky. “Would you mind, if we leave that topic for now? I guess, I’m still not ready to talk about it.” – “Yeah sure, whatever you want.” For the rest of the night, the talked about Mika’s insecurities regarding his new free skate routine and Austin’s troubles with some boys at his school. The half-Thai didn’t know why, but talking about those things with the Ice Prince felt totally different from talking with other friends. It made him really happy and when he talked away his troubles, his heart felt a lot lighter than before. Although he wished that this would never end, he started to yawn. His 10 hour flight had been more exhausting that he had predicted. He tried to stay awake a little longer, but he couldn’t help but slowly drifting off to Mika’s whispered words. The last thing he noticed before falling asleep, was the sound of thick snowflakes tapping against the window.

 

"Mika! Get up!", Austin shouted excitedly, his nose pressed against the window. "Urhm…What's wrong…?", the Russian answered still half asleep and pulled the blanket over his head to shelter himself from the light that filled the room through the opened curtains. "Everything’s covered in snow!", the half-Thai answered jumping up and down like a child. "So what? It started yesterday, that was supposed to happen,” Mika grumbled. “Yeah…but…EVERYTHING’s covered in white! Even the streets!”, Austin had a hard time not to run out of his apartment and touch the cold white that coated the whole city. “That’s what happens when it snows.” The Ice Prince still seemed unimpressed. Austin assumed that he’d rather sleep for another hour or two. He had been the same when he woke up, still tired after they had stayed awake talking until 5 in the morning. Just being in Russia for a few days didn’t seem like enough time to make up for all the months they had missed each other, so sleeping might seem like waste of time. But that didn’t matter to Austin, sleeping next to Mika was the best thing in the world and no matter how exhausted he had been in the evening, when he woke up the next day, he felt like he was reborn. There was nothing better that falling asleep cuddled against the Ice Prince’s firm chest, his arm wrapped around Austin’s waist.

Although that might seem weird to other people, they were sleeping like that without any ulterior motives – at least not from Mika’s side, something the half-Thai tried not to think about too much. He rather enjoyed those moments that showed him that he was special to the Ice Prince, that he trusted him so much that he was able to sleep next to him. They had been like that since they were children. The first time Austin had visited Mika without his parents, he had been 6 years old. Although he had been looking forward to staying two whole weeks with his friend since they hadn’t seen each other for months, the first night far away from his parents was harder than he had expected. He had already been sleeping in Mika’s room before, but now his parents weren’t in a hotel room close to Viktor and Yuuri’s apartment, but over 2000 km away in Switzerland where they went for business after they had dropped him off in Saint Petersburg. He had already felt a lump in his throat when his fathers had said goodbye to him, but when he laid on the blow-up mattress next to Mika’s bed, the lump had spread over his whole body. The only source of light coming from a streetlamp which’s rays found their way through the closed curtains and the sound from ticking of the clock on the other side of the wall made him uneasy. Austin’s stomach cramped, his heart getting heavier and heavier and he was afraid to close his eyes, unsure of what monsters might wait for him in his sleep. For what had felt like hours, he had stayed awake, silently sobbing into his pillow. Suddenly, he heard a rustling, two steps and then a warm body cuddling up to his back. “Mika…what…?”, Austin whispered when his friend had wrapped his arm around his waist to pull the half-Thai even closer to his body. “If you can’t sleep, I can’t sleep, too”, he answered in a muffled, sleepy voice. At first, the younger boy wanted to ask him why Mika had decided to sleep next to him, but then he sensed a warm, steady breath on his neck and only seconds later a warm, comfortable feeling filled his body and he drifted off into a beautiful dream.

Since that day, they had slept in the same bed every time they had visited each other. Even when they became older, even when Mika had a girlfriend. Cuddling with each other, falling asleep in each other’s arms had ever since been part of their friendship and Austin wouldn’t change a thing. Aside from it being a sign for their close relationship and their trust and affection for each other, it enabled the half-Thai to dream what it would feel like being more to Mika, being the most important person in his life, being the one the Ice Prince loved. Yes, Austin had a huge crush on Mika. He had noticed a few years ago and since then, his love had only grown. The half-Thai knew that those feelings were one-sidedly, but that was totally fine for him. He just wanted his friend to be happy and if that was with another person, he just warned his future partner to better not hurt him. 

“Close the curtains and come back to bed…It’s too early to get up,” Mika muttered and turned his back away from the windows. “Too early? Have you looked at the clock? It’s nearly noon. Get up, get up!” He tried to pull the blanket away from the Ice Prince, but the latter had been prepared. He clang tightly to it, pulling it over his head even more. If force didn’t work, Austin had to use other methods. He knelt down next to the bed, so his face was on the same level as Mika’s. Then, he softly caressed his friend’s hand to loosen his tight grip. Slowly, he pulled down the blanket to free the Ice Prince’s face poking his cheeks until he finally opened his eyes. “Pleeeeassssee…Mika….,” Austin begged with big round eyes, “can we go outside…pleeeeassssee!” – “Nrrgg…” – “Oh Mika….I’ve never seen snow before. It’s been my biggest wish since I was a child…Won’t you grant me that small wish…”The half-Korean knew that he was playing a little unfair. The Ice Prince had always been weak to him and now, he was shamelessly using that against him. “Nrrrg…OK!” – “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Austin threw himself onto Mika who groaned from the sudden weight on his chest. “If you want to go outside with me, you need to let me live.” – “Hey,” Austin got up and put his hands on his hips. “I’m not that heavy!” –“Naahh…you remember that cake you ate yesterday…I bet you gained 5 kg from that”, Mika answered sitting up. “You….” Of course, the Ice Prince knew that the half-Thai was insecure about his weight and although he told him persistently that there was nothing to worry about, he mocked him for it every now and then. As there was no good response coming to his mind, Austin decided that there was only one way for revenge. He took Mika’s huge pillow and hit him over the head. 

Half an hour later, Austin was bobbing up and down waiting for his friend to find his gloves. Why couldn’t he just hurry a little more? The half-Korean knew that he was slightly behaving like a child, but… SNOW! Trying to calm excitement a little while hating Mika for his untidiness, he started dancing along the hallway. “Alright, alright, I got…Pfff…Haha…what is that supposed to be?” The Ice Prince tried to keep in his laughter. “I’m waiting for you. Like always,” Austin answered in a peeved tone. He knew that he wasn’t really graceful off the ice and he was even more insecure about his dancing, but that was no reason to laugh about him. “Sorry…it’s just…Seeing you wear this super thick cloths trying to dance like the elf you are on the ice is just…” The rest of his sentence was caught up in his laughter again. “At least one of us is having fun. Can we go now or do you need some time to calm yourself?” – “No, no. I’m fine,” Mika answered wiping away a tear from his eye. “Let’s go!”

When they finally stepped outside, Austin was blinded by the bright light that was reflected from the snow. He needed to blink a few times to get adjusted, but what he saw then was making him speechless. The street, the parked cars, the trees – everything was covered in white. He was so mesmerized, he didn’t really notice that Mika put his arms around his shoulder and lead him to a small park on the other side of the street. The whole green area was hidden under a thick snowpack, not a single culm was piercing through. Even the small lake was completely frozen. If he had his skates here, he could try skating on it. Overwhelmed by the sight in front of him, Austin still stood on the street, one step away from the snow piles. 

“You know that you can touch it, don’t you?” Jolting out of his thoughts, turned his head to his side. He had been so caught up, he had even forgot about Mika who was looking at him amused. “Can I...really?” He didn’t dare to destroy the beauty. “It’s just snow, Austin. Nobody’s going to arrest you, because you touched it.” Slowly, the half-Thai knelt down, put off one of his gloves and reached out for the snow in front of him. At first it was just cold, but when he took some in his hands, it felt like a crystalized cloud. “This is…beautiful.” – “You know what else is amazing?” Austin turned around to look at Mika, but he latter had just pushed him right into the snow. He sunk in for a few centimetres. If felt so unreal yet so amazing. However, he hadn’t enough time to enjoy that feeling, because the Russian had through a snow ball at him. “Is this your revenge from earlier?” the half-Korean asked him forming his own balls in order to fight back. “You never had a real snowball fight before, so chances are pretty good that I win this time.” – “You wish!” Austin answered and threw himself and his prepared balls at Mika.

About twenty minutes later, they were laying next to each other in the snow, both panting heavily. “I guess that’s a draw then,” Mika laughed trying to catch his breath. “So that means you’re giving up?” – “As if you could go on!” – “I could…If I would feel my hand.” Austin should probably have put on his glove again during their fight, but the sensation of such fluffy coldness on his skin had been too exciting. Mika turned to his side and pushed his upper body up, so he could look at him better. “Oh gosh, снежинка. We should really go home for now. Your lips are turning all blue.” – “Hm? What does that mean, ‘снежинка’? You already said that yesterday.” Austin sat up, his face pretty close to the Ice Prince’s. “It means snowflake.” The half-Thai was confused. “But why would you call me snowflake?” – “Because you are like one. You are as soft and pure, as beautiful and as unique as one.” – “But…” Austin had no idea what to respond to that. Although he had been freezing before, he now felt a heat spreading through his body and he knew that his face must be red as a beetroot. “That’s embarrassing…,” he whispered turning away his head to try hiding his face from his friend. The latter, however, cupped his face with his hands and forced him to look right into his eyes. “There’s nothing embarrassing about it. I think it suits you that’s the only thing that matters.” – “But the others…” – “Don’t care about the others. They don’t need to know. I will be the only one who’s allowed to call you like that, okay? You are my personal snowflake! Now let’s get you back into warmth or you will become not a snowflake, but a block of ice.” Mika got up and extended his arm to help Austin get up. When he was on his feet again, the half-Thai feared that they would collapse under him any second, not because of the cold, but because they were shaking so much from what the Ice Prince had just said. His heart was beating like it was going to crash his chest and the butterflies in his stomach were throwing a party. Trying to burn this moment into his mind, he just realized once more how much he was in love with Mika.

_________

“Are a bit warmer now?”, Mika asked him, when Austin stepped into his room. “Yeah, thanks.” The shower had already helped a lot, but the sweater, the jogging pants and the thick fluffy socks, the Ice Prince had put on the heater were even better. The half-Thai loved to wear his boyfriends cloths, so being surrounded by his sent made him feel even warmer than before. “That’s great, so come in here.” The Russian lifted the blanket next to him and Austin jumped in and snuggled up to Mika’s shoulder. The latter reached out to his night table and handed him a steaming cup of hot chocolate. It smelled absolutely fantastic. The half-Korean cautiously took a sip and stopped. This wasn’t normal hot chocolate – this was a flavoured one. “This is from ‘Törtchen’. How did you get it?” – “I bribed Iris to sell me one, two packs. I wanted to surprise you.” Since Austin had moved to Saint Petersburg, he – like the others – had become a regular of the ‘Törtchen’. They spent a lot of time there and somehow, they had become friends with the blonde waitress who was still part-time working there. “That’s so cute. Thank you!” The half-Thai placed a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “For you, everything, Snowflake” Mika answered and turned on the TV.


End file.
